Difference Between Quantitative & Qualitative Analysis

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS If you've taken a course in social science, you may have heard the terms qualitative and quantitative in regards to research. But what are the differences between the two? And, if you do a research study, which should you pursue? Quantitative research focuses on numbers or quantities. Quantitative studies have results that are based on numeric analysis and statistics. Often, these studies have many participants. It is not unusual for there to be over a thousand people in a quantitative research study. It is ideal to have a large number of participants because this gives analysis more statistical power. Qualitative research studies are focused on differences in quality, rather than differences in quantity. Results are in words or pictures rather than numbers. Qualitative studies usually have fewer participants than quantitative studies because the depth of the data collection does not allow for large numbers of participants. Quantitative and qualitative studies both have strengths and weaknesses. A particular strength of quantitative research is that statistical analysis allows for generalization (to some extent) to others. A goal of quantitative research is to choose a sample that closely resembles the population. Qualitative research does not seek to choose samples that are representative of populations. However, qualitative data does provide a depth and richness of data not possible with quantitative data. Although there are fewer participants, the researchers generally know more details about each participant. Quantitative researchers collect data on more participants, so it is not possible to have the depth and breadth of knowledge about each. Quantitative analysis allows researchers to test specific hypotheses. Depending on research findings, hypotheses are either supported or not supported.
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